1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a combination of a cloth spreading machine and a complementary moving cutter knife, and more particularly to cloth spreading machines of the type which move longitudinally and reciprocally over a cloth spreading table and spread layers of cloth upon the table whereupon a complementary moving knife severs the cloth to form a plurality of separate single layers of cloth stacked one upon another.
2. Prior Art
Reciprocating cloth spreaders are well known in the art and have been in use for many years. The U.S. patents to Martin, et al (U.S. Pat. No. 3,472,023) and Benson et al (U.S. Pat. No. 3,684,282) illustrate the general features of this type of machine. In laying or spreading cloth from a roll, the ideal goal is to place a layer of cloth upon a table which is straight, smooth (flat) and tension free so that material usage is maximized.
Tension exists in a roll of cloth due to the manner in which the cloth is rolled on a spindle at the textile mill. Certain prior art references describe efforts toward producing a tension free lay of cloth; U.S. patents to Benson et al, previously mentioned, and to Frederick et al (U.S. Pat. No. 3,782,649) underscore this fact. However, solutions proposed to date have been largely unsatisfactory because prior art devices generally operate on an "on-off" system so that response to overfeeding or underfeeding is abrupt and jerky. Although efforts have been made to smooth the movement and prevent the abrupt jerky motion, the prior art does not disclose a truly effective means to eliminate this tension. Because the prior art devices do not eliminate the tension in the cloth, the cloth cannot be cut in an even manner.
Generally, prior art cutters transversely reciprocate in a cutter slide. Thus, when the cloth spreading machine completes a lay of cloth, it must stop in order to permit the cloth cutter to sever the cloth. Accordingly, it is apparent that spreading cloth in the manner taught by prior art devices is time consuming.